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Rumors of easing oil, gas price controls 'baseless'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-22 11:19

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's economic planning agency, said rumors that the authorities plan to relax domestic oil and gas price controls are "baseless."

The NDRC made the brief statement on its website.

Related readings:  Plan to liberalize prices of refined oil denied  Rumors of oil price hikes fuel market rally  CNPC estimates direct losses of 1.78b yuan from quake  Oil prices steady; gas breaks $4 in 2 markets

The remarks follow speculation yesterday that the NDRC and other government agencies have entered final discussions with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and CNPC on relaxing price controls. The move was expected to be brought forward to next month due to the earthquake.

As a result of the rumors, PetroChina Co Ltd and Sinopec staged a rebound yesterday afternoon. Sinopec rose by the 10 percent daily trading limit to 12.55 yuan ($1.81).

Currently, China caps domestic oil and gas prices, which deny local energy companies the option of passing on costs to end-users.

Yesterday, light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $4.19 to settle at $133.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but prices rose as high as $134.42 in after-hours electronic trading.

Earlier today, the Shanghai Securities News quoted an unidentified government official as saying the domestic pricing regime cannot be relaxed as such a move would hinder earthquake relief and reconstruction.